Kansas Lawn Mowing & Maintenance
Everyone wants a lawn that looks great no matter the season, but the steps you need to take to get there aren’t always clear. At Lawn Love, we know just what your Wichita lawn needs to be healthy and vibrant all year long. That’s why we offer a variety of services for your lawn, such as:
- Lawn Mowing
- Gardening
- Lawn Fertilization
- Lawn Aeration
- Weed Control
- Lawn Seeding
- Yard Clean Up
- Leaf Removal
- Gutter Cleaning
- Snow Removal
- Christmas light installation
Perhaps the most important thing you do for the health and beauty of your lawn is to mow it, but are you doing it right? There’s more to lawn mowing that just mowing every once in a while, which is why we’ve come up with these handy mowing tips to help you mow your way to a thriving and lush Kansas lawn.
What’s Growing in Your Lawn?
Do you know what type of grass you have? If you planted it yourself, you might – but if you inherited an established lawn, you may have no clue! The most common types of grasses found in Kansas lawns are:
- Bermudagrass
- Buffalograss
- Zoysiagrass
- Tall Fescue
The first three on the list are all warm-season grasses, meaning they will thrive in the heat of summer. Tall fescue is a cool-season grass that has a few characteristics of warm-season grass too. While it will grow fastest in the cooler temperatures of spring and fall, it’ll still stay green and tolerate the heat of the summer well.
If you need help identifying the type of grass you’re growing, this turf identification tool can help.
Ideal Mowing Height
Each type of grass has a height it will perform best at in your Kansas lawn. So, you should aim to ensure you keep the grasses within their ideal range. The mowing heights for common Kansas grasses are:
- Bermudagrass – 1.0 to 1.5 inches
- Buffalograss – 1.0 to 2.0 inches
- Zoysiagrass – 0.50 to 1.0 inches
- Tall Fescue – 1.5 to 3.0 inches
It’s important to remember never to remove more than one-third of the height of your grass at once. Removing too much from the blades of grass can make it more susceptible to environmental stressors such as weeds, drought, heat, disease, and pests. That’s why mowing your lawn isn’t something you do on a strict schedule. Instead, follow your lawn’s lead. At some points in the season when the grass is growing fast, you may need to mow more than once a week. At other points, growth may slow and only require you to mow every week or 10 days. As long as you let your lawn lead and remember the one-third rule, you’re off to a great start!
What About Lawn Clippings?
When you mow your lawn, you may wonder if you need to take the time to remove the clippings or not. Contrary to what you may have heard, there’s no need to remove your lawn clippings – especially if you mow as frequently as your lawn needs.
Clippings are actually healthy for your lawn since they decompose quickly and return important nutrients to the soil. In fact, leaving clippings may mean you need to fertilize your lawn less, so it saves you time and money to just leave those clippings where they are! And don’t worry, they don’t contribute to issues with thatch.
A Couple More Tips
You wouldn’t get far with lawn mowing without your mower! That’s why it’s important to maintain your mower so it can work efficiently. Make sure to keep your mower blades sharp so the cut they provide to the grass is clean instead of being torn. If you notice that your grass is cut uneven or if the tips look ragged and discolored, then your mower blades might need to be sharpened. It’s not a bad idea to keep two sets of blades for your mower so you have a sharpened pair always ready to switch out to.
It’s also worth it to change the direction and pattern you mow each time. If you mow the same way every single time you mow, then the grass may start to lean in the direction, resulting in a poor cut. Plus, the wheels of the mower can cause the soil to compact, robbing your grass of important nutrients. Change it up when you mow in order to keep it fresh and interesting for both you and your lawn!
Caring for your Kansas lawn is a big job and lawn mowing is just the tip of the lawn care and maintenance iceberg. If you need help, don’t forget that the pros at Lawn Love are always here to help!
